Peter James Nixon AO (born 22 March 1928) is a former Australian politician and businessman. He served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1961 to 1983, representing the

Division of Gippsland The Division of Gippsland is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named for the Gippslan ...

as a member of the

National Country Party The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a fe ...

(NCP). He held ministerial office as

Minister for the Interior Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

(1967–1971), Shipping and Transport (1971–1972),

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...

(1975),

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

(1975–1979), and

Primary Industry The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in ...

(1979–1983). Nixon is the earliest elected Country MP still alive, and along with

Ian Sinclair Ian McCahon Sinclair (born 10 June 1929) is a former Australian politician who served as leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989. He was a government minister under six prime ministers, and later Speaker of the House of Representative ...

he is one of the last two surviving ministers who served under

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

and

McEwen The Scottish surname MacEwen derives from the Old Gaelic ''Mac Eoghainn'', meaning 'the son of Eoghann'. The name is found today in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Because it was widely used before its spelling was standardised, the modern n ...

, as well as in the First Gorton and First Fraser Ministry.

Early life

Nixon grew up on a farming property outside

Orbost, Victoria Orbost is a historic early settlers town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, east of Melbourne and south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about from the surf and fishing seaside town of Marlo on the c ...

. He was educated at

Wesley College, Melbourne , motto_translation = Dare To Be Wise , slogan = A ''True'' Education (2010 – Present) , established = 18 January 1866 , type = Independent, day & boarding , gender ...

. At the age of 18 he sustained a severe injury to his left hip while playing

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

, requiring him to spend eight months in hospital. He passed the time by reading and playing

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

. Following his recovery Nixon took up farming, the fourth generation of his family to farm in

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

. He had a property named Macclesfield, where he grew seed beans and maize. He later switched to

mixed farming Mixed farming is a type of farming which involves both the growing of crops and the raising of livestock. Such agriculture occurs across Asia and in countries such as India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, South Africa, China, Central Europe, Can ...

, growing

lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

and keeping dairy cattle. In 1952 he married Jacqueline "Sally" Dahlsen, with whom he had three children.

Politics

Nixon was elected to parliament at the 1961 federal election, following the resignation of George Bowden, the incumbent Country Party MP in

. He had initially not been a candidate for

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

, agreeing to stand only when the presumed nominee suffered a fatal heart attack three days before nominations closed. Nixon quickly became a senior member of the Country Party and first entered the

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

in October 1967 before moving to the Shipping and Transport portfolio in 1971 under

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...

. He retained this portfolio under

William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, t ...

. He is mentioned in the song Gurindji Blues, saying "Buy your land back, Gurindji" referring to his assessment of the Wattie Creek land rights strike. In opposition from 1972 to 1975, Nixon was a prominent figure in persuading his National Party colleagues to help pass

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

legislation opposed by the Nationals' coalition partner, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. This helped prove to voters the National Party's independence from the Liberal Party and in cases such as when the Nationals supported Labor's policy on educational grants to public schools, helped to show the National Party's connection with core voter issues. Nixon was also a longtime critic of the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, which he accused of being biased against the National Party. When Malcolm Fraser became caretaker prime minister and then followed by the Coalition victory in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, Nixon served as

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

until 1979 and then Minister for Primary Industry, both in

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

's government. On the floor of parliament, Nixon was known for trading insults with opposition members and particularly his verbal stoushes with

Fred Daly Fred Daly may refer to: * Fred Daly (American football), American football player at Yale, head football coach at Williams College (1913–1914) * Fred Daly (politician) Frederick Michael Daly (13 June 1912 – 2 August 1995) was an Aust ...

Later life

Following his retirement from politics in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, Nixon returned to the business world, including spending seven years from 1984 as a commissioner of the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). In 1996, he was chosen to chair a joint Commonwealth-State inquiry into the

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n economy. The report became known as the ''Nixon Report: Tasmania into the 21st Century''.Trustee of MCC 86–91. Freeman City of Jakarta, Athens.Chief Commissioner East Gippsland Shire 95–97

Honours

On 26 January 1993, Nixon was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for his service to the Australian parliament and to the community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon, Peter 1928 births Living people National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gippsland Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia People from Orbost 20th-century Australian politicians Government ministers of Australia